What the students say

What the students say

As the lecturers' pay dispute intensifies, EducationGuardian asked a sample of student unions what they have been told by the university, or had reported to them by students, about the impact of the boycott.

University of Aberdeen All exams have now been set, and there are a small number still awaiting external approval. Most students seem to be affected with regards to assessment feedback. Many will go into exams with no idea of their assessment performance. This is a difficult situation because the majority of students do better in assessment than in exam situations. Our honours year is third and fourth year, and in most instances they have an even weighting, so a large proportion of final-year students already know their degree classification. The university is seeking the approval of heads of school to postpone secondary marking where necessary.

Aston University Two substantial exams have been cancelled. It has been predicted that eight to 10 more may be cancelled out of a total of approximately 800, in specific subject areas. So far, 150 students have been affected across the board, but we are most concerned about the final-year students whose job offers depend on graduation. With first and second years, we won't know if students have adequate marks to continue their studies next year. The main objective is to get the final-year students the accredited degrees they are working towards. We are making a great effort to reach a solution, but some degrees are particularly problematic, such as pharmacology and optometry where a "guesstimation" is not possible as the students of these subjects have to have each module completed with full examination in order to be accredited.

University of Bristol All exam papers will be set by the official start of the examination period (May 18), even if this means having to "recycle" old exam questions where appropriate. Most AUT lecturers have unofficially taken a Natfhe stance on the dispute, to "mark and park" (they will mark exams, but not release results to the university). Contingency plans have been made in consultation with the students' union and we feel the university is doing its best to protect students in this very difficult and unfair situation.

University of Cambridge The quickest and best way for this to end is for the employers to give the lecturers a decent pay deal. This can all be over before any exams are cancelled. We're unsure of the extent of the disruption because the university has said any member who boycotts an assessment will lose that entire day's pay. They have been advised not to report their action to the university. The university is expecting most exams to be sat, and has found markers from elsewhere. All students should expect to graduate, although their marks might be altered at a later date. The university has enacted a grace that allows class lists to be published without the signature of all examiners.

Coventry University The university has written to every student, making them aware of the arrangements that have been put in place to ensure students graduating this year will be in receipt of the appropriate award. The university doesn't anticipate any cancellations due to strike action. All students returning to the university will be re-enrolled in September, even if marks are incomplete. They are still aiming to hold the graduation ceremonies in November, as usual.

University of Durham All exams are going ahead as normal, and we have been working with the university to make sure the contingency plan is fine - in this case, it has meant more invigilators. We have already had some vivas cancelled, and it is unknown how much summative work has not been marked. More than 3,000 people affected will be finalists, but the effect is just as serious for non-finalists, who need their marks to progress. The contingency plan for graduation is based upon the principle of not compromising academic standards. While students would ideally graduate in the summer, we would rather their graduation be delayed than the university take what would be an educated guess at what classification a student should receive.

University of Edinburgh A small number of exams have been cancelled. At the time of writing, six have been cancelled for which no alternative arrangements (eg rescheduling) have been made as yet. Some students will be affected by this, but the university is working towards making sure boards of examiners meet and that graduations will go ahead as scheduled.

University of Exeter All exams will go ahead. Students from English, school of modern languages and drama are the most seriously affected by the marking boycott, probably about 600 students. Along with Bristol and Southampton, we have been leading opposition to the AUT strike and the ludicrous NUS stance of support. We have formed a group of 32 students unions to oppose the strikes.

University of Glamorgan There have been no exams cancelled or disrupted. We only have Natfhe staff here and they have gone ahead with the setting of exams, unlike AUT members at other universities.

Keele University Less than 3% of finals papers will not run to schedule. This will affect 48 students for postgraduate taught courses. At undergraduate level, roughly 12% of papers will be postponed. This could affect up to 450 students. Contingency plans are in place to allow students to graduate on credits achieved so far.

King's College London All exams will go ahead as planned. The next stage is to ensure all exams and coursework are marked and returned as they usually would be. The principal has been very good at keeping students informed. However, greater clarity about what will happen after the exams have been sat would be of use to many students who are understandably nervous about the situation. Although we support the lecturers' claim for increased pay, we cannot condone action that is detrimental to students already saddled with pressure in the face of finals, debt and the languishing graduate job market. We would ask the unions to consider action that would harm their employer and not the students - such as withholding research.

University of Leicester At the moment, there are some papers that have not been set in a few departments, but the university is hopeful all exams will happen as normal. Hopefully there will be only a very small number of students affected by the non-setting of exams. However, students in several departments are already being affected by not being able to take oral assessments, as well as not receiving feedback on coursework, which may be helpful to them in order to revise for their exams. If the dispute is not resolved, it is looking likely that in several departments examinations will not be marked, which could potentially affect thousands of students.

University of Liverpool Twenty out of 800 exams have been cancelled, with thousands of students affected across all years. The strike has hit the sociology students more than others, and the history and psychology departments have also been strongly affected. Final-year students have the choice of accepting the results achieved in the first semester and graduate normally in July, or wait until the second semester work has been assessed and graduate in October.

University of Nottingham At present, no exams cancelled. We expect that contingency plans will be introduced in the coming week.

University of Plymouth No exams cancelled so far. No notification of any contingency plans. "We have been given assurance by the university that individuals who may be affected will be recognised and taken into consideration when grading degrees."

Royal Holloway, University of London All examinations are going forward as normal, and only one paper has been affected. A past resit paper that had not been used was set instead, but there were a few references in it the students hadn't covered. For the group of students this affected it was very upsetting, especially as they were first-years. The main problem is that, in some departments, formal feedback has not been given on essays, so students haven't been able to revise from them. The college has put in an appeal process for students who feel their grades have been affected. An all-student email is being prepared to inform the students of these plans.

University of St Andrews There is one member of staff who is still withholding their exam papers, putting a total of four exams in jeopardy. These exams - if they are not set - will take place in the September diet that is usually used for reassessment. This would not affect that many students (about 50), but the continued boycott of summative assessment, including marking exams, will affect the vast majority of students here - at least 3,000. All students who were supposed to be graduating this year will be able to. They will receive a non-honours degree, what is called a "special" in the Scottish system. When the boycott is over and the work marked, they will receive their full honours degree, along with their degree classification. It means ceremonies can go ahead next month, because a lot of parents, especially those flying in from the US, will have already booked flights and accommodation.

University of Sussex We are not aware of any exams being cancelled nor are they likely to be. Students have had no feedback on work they have submitted, therefore they don't know which areas need improvement, which is a worry. We are anxious about when their work will be marked and whether they will graduate on time. The university is not forthcoming with detailed information: they seem to be taking the approach that we should wait and see what happens. There are no contingency plans that we know of and using marks based on 75% of a student's previous work is not an ideal situation - it casts a shadow over the degree.

University of Warwick Most of our exams are already set. However, there are some areas where no exams have been set yet. It is very difficult to tell how many students are affected, as many lecturers are not declaring that they are taking action. This is understandable since our university council voted to dock pay for those lecturers taking action. From what we can tell, there are several departments where there are lots of academics taking action. Students will be able to graduate with partial transcripts of their marks. It is likely that students with more than 70% of their marks in already will be given a provisional degree classification, subject to updating when the full marks come in (if this happens, a students' grade will not go down). Several of the large firms who recruit graduates from Warwick have said they are ready to be sympathetic to the potential situation of graduates this year.

University of York Some students have faced postponement of exams. None of these are third-year or final exams as priority has been given to finalists. This is not the fault of the lecturers, the students or the vice-chancellors. This is the fault of the government and previous governments who have made the funding of higher education a complete mess.